Mehitable E. WOODS

WOODS, CRAIL, OWEN, ALLEN, FOX, STANTON, GIFT

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 5/2/2006 at 20:44:57

"Fairfield Ledger", Sept. 30, 1891, Pg. 3

THEY MOURN MOTHER WOODS. The Funeral Obsequies and a Sketch of the Life of the Good Woman....

While passing her residence Wednesday morning Capt. CRAIL and a friend heard moans.... They opened the door and found her lying the floor writhing with pain. She was conscious and asked that a physician be sent for. But she was past earthly aid and in a few moments passed quietly and peacefully away.

"... Her fame was greater perhaps than that of any woman in Iowa. She was born in Georgia, Chittendon County, Vermont, and was the youngest child of Julius and Hettie OWEN. Her father was of Welsh descent, and her mother was a French woman. The former was an uncle of the noted general Ethan ALLEN, and if the soldierly qualities of the family could be transmitted to a woman they were to be found in Mrs. WOODS.... In 1835 she went to live with a sister at Harvard, Ill., and while there met and married George (Gilbert) M. FOX. June 27th, 1839, the young people came to Fairfield. They were among the pioneer settlers of the new town, and the house they built, and in which Mrs. WOODS had resided continuously until her death, was an excellent structure for those days....

Mrs. WOODS had resided in Fairfield nearly a quarter of a century when the war of the rebellion broke upon the country. She was possessed of a considerable means, had no family, and was quite charitably disposed.... As the war developed so many men, so did it afford opportunity to show the material which entered into the composition of this woman.... The ladies of Fairfield responded loyally to the calls which were made upon them in those trying times. Their hands fashioned the gray uniforms for the famous Company E, Second Iowa Infantry, provided the colors, and sent lint and bandages and hospital supplies to the front. As their work progressed the necessity of a laborer in the field became evident. That duty fell to Mrs. WOODS.... As the agent of no other association than that of the Ladies Aid Society of Jefferson County, she went where duty called her. She was her own master and obeyed only her own orders. They took her wherever Iowa soldiers, particularly Jefferson County soldiers, were to be found. She bore and honored the title of Major, and passes signed by no less a person that Secretary STANTON took her any place within the lines of the Federal army. And this quiet, unassuming woman well knew the authority she possessed and she used it... She traveled alone and made her business known only to those in authority. The curious ones who sought to know where she was going were invariably met with the answer, "To see my sons, all of whom are in the army". The pass, which is yet among her effects, shows that she made thirteen trips over the transportation lines of the southwest, and carried nine cargoes of goods varying in weight from 10 to 37 tons..... Some time previous to her death Mr. Charles GIFT of this city, in frequent conversations with Mrs. WOODS, gathered much interesting material for a sketch of her army work....

After the close of the war Mrs. WOODS returned to her home here, where she spent the remainder of her life, except a few years devoted to travel... No gathering of old soldiers, no reunion was complete without her presence. There was a place in this community for Mehitable E. WOODS, and who can say that she did not fill its greatest measure to overflowing? All Fairfield, all Jefferson County, all Iowa will mourn her death. She has gone from our midst, but her life and her work will remain as long as history stands.

The funeral obsequies occurred Thursday afternoon from her late residence. Thousands of people attended the ceremonies and viewed the remains of their dead friend.... The coffin was draped with the flag of the Union, which this good woman loved so well. The floral decorations were profuse and beautiful. The Ellis Hose boys gave a pillow with the words, "Our Mother"; the G.A.R. and the Women's Relief Corps appropriate designs; the O.E.S. and Daughters of Rebekah their society emblems in flowers.... The funeral procession reached from the park to the cemetery. Every vehicle in the city was pressed into service and was in the line of march, and the cemetery appeared to be filled with people when the first carriage reached the gates. The body was borne on a bier carried in turn by details from the Ellis Hose Company and George Strong Post. The services at the grave were conducted by the O.E.S. and the regalia of the Rebekah order was placed in the grave with the body. Mrs. WOODS was a member of all the orders named, and each vied with the other in paying the last sad tribute to her memory. All had places in the funeral procession. Brass and martial bands, city officials, three hundred soldiers, with men high in military and civil life in their ranks, and hundreds of citizens participated in the funeral exercises. Fairfield never paid such a tribute to one of her citizens in death as it did to Mrs. WOODS.

*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.